Cape Town in top three cities to visit in 2014

Lonely Planet travel guide rates Cape Town third best city to visit next year

Cape Town has been listed as one of the three best cities in the world to visit by travel publisher Lonely Planet.

Cape Town comes third position in the guide's Best in Travel 2014 list, with Trinidad (Cuba) in second place and Paris in first.

The South African city's newly-awarded status as "World Design Capital" by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design was a factor in achieving the accolade from Lonely Planet. Citing the city's "undeniable natural beauty", Lonely Planet says “Expect sculpture-lined green spaces, sustainable projects, and further regeneration of former industrial districts such as Woodstock and The Fringe, now the stamping ground of trendy shoppers and gourmands.”

And although the guide says "There’s never a bad time to visit Cape Town" it identifies bridging "the gap between Cape Town’s disparate population" as a key objective.

However it says that innovation is "turning things around in the disadvantaged townships" while the city's "swanky bus system" is "finally making Cape Town feasible on public transport.” Lonely Planet’s top ten cities to visit in 2014 are: Paris (France), Trinidad (Cuba), Cape Town, Riga (Latvia), Zurich (Switzerland), Shanghai (China), Vancouver (Canada), Chicago (US), Adelaide (Australia) and Auckland (New Zealand).